Smelting furnace



March 21, 1950 F ZVANUT ET AL 2,501,119

SMELTING FURNACE Filed May 17, 1946 I N VEN TORS FRANK J. ZVANUT, CLIFFORD C.KREAGER, BY CHARLES A.THOMAS.Jr.

ATTORNEYS tion of the furnace to which the spout is secured.

The discharge spout shown in the drawing comprises a generally square plate-like body portion I which is fitted into and secured in place in an opening of corresponding cross section in one of the side walls of a furnace 2 at a region adjacent the bottom inside wall 3 thereof. Such bot tom wall 3 of the furnace is preferably slightly inclined toward the aforesaid opening in the side wall. Body I is preferably provided with a pair of oppositely projecting lugs 4 which project. beyond the extremity of the opening in the 'furnace and which lie adjacent the outer wall thereof duced and is not nearly as much as would be the case if there were no converging supporting walls I6 for the tap hole I5. In other words, if walls I 6 were parallel and vertical or were divergent, as would be the case if opening 5 were circular and of diameter equal to the distance between the upper and lower extremities I and 8, the lack of support for the tap hole would permit undue erosion and deformation thereof. Because the tap hole I5 is disposed above the bottom wall 3 of the furnace, only the pure material, free of the sludge which settles to the bottom of the furnace, will be drawn off.

and are held thereagainst by means of suitable straps or swingable links, not shown, on the furnace proper.

Centrally through the body I is an opening 5 of variable horizontal width as viewed in Fig. l

and which has a section 6 of minimum width between the upper and lower extremities I and 8 thereof. As clearly shown in Fig. 3, the lower extremity 8 is flush with the bottom wall 3 of the furnace. In general, the contour of opening 5 approximately follows that of a vertically disposed figure eight or hour glass, as best shown in Fig. 1. The opposed side walls 9 and I0, Fig. 2, of opening 5 converge toward one another in a direction from the interior to the exterior of the furnace.

Body I is bored as at II to provide a continuous passage surrounding opening 5 and suitable threaded inlet ports I2 and threaded outlet ports I3 are in communication with passage I I whereby cold water, for example, can be piped thereto and continuously forced through passage I I to maintain the body I and also the walls of opening 5 at a temperature below that of the molten material within the furnace and also below that which would be destructive to ferrous alloys. In

this way the spout can be readily cast from east iron or alloy steel at very low cost.

Integral with body I is a U-shaped trough I4 which extends forwardly and downwardly from the outer face of the body. This trough serves as a conduit to either direct the melt into a water tank or the sludge into a suitable container, as the case may be.

To fully appreciate this invention, the operation of the furnace will now be briefly described.

After a previous heat has been completed and the furnace has been readied for another heat a pliable clay ball is stuffed into opening 5. Such stuffing of opening 5 causes the clay ball to mushroom into engagement with the converging walls 9 and II] of the opening to firmly resist withdrawal therefrom as by the pressure head of material within the furnace. The furnace is then loaded with the desired raw materials, as for example those previously disclosed, and is heated to efiect fusing of such raw materials into a liquid form. When the melt is ready to be drawn, a tap hole I5 (shown dotted in Fig. 1) is formed in the upper portion of opening 5 as by forcing a rod through the clay ball plug. When the rod is withdrawn, the molten material from the furnace will flow through the tap hole so formed into a water tank disposed below the level of the tap hole to solidify the same and render the same friable. As indicated above, such friable product is known as frit.

As the material flows through the tap hole I5, there will, of course, be a certain amount of erosion and consequent enlargement of the tap hole, but such enlargement will not be suflicient to be detrimental to the quality of the frit pro- After having drawn off the pure material as aforesaid, a suitable container may be placed below trough I l and then the clay ball plug can be completely removed from opening 5 to permit drainage of the sludge from the bottom of the furnace. A hoe-like bar, not shown, can then be inserted through opening 5 to pull the sludge toward opening I5 to facilitate such drainage. Because the lower extremity 8 of opening 5 is flush with the bottom wall 3 of the furnace and because the side walls 9 and I8 are flared and because the opening 5 is of considerable width across the bottom portion thereof, this hoe-like bar can be readily manipulated or moved within the furnace to thoroughly clean out all of the sludge therein and pull the same directly out through opening 5.

It is to be understood that it may not be necessary to clean out the furnace after each heat, in which case only the tap hole I5 need be plugged preparatory to running a succeeding heat.

Other modes of applying the principle of the invention may be employed, change being made as regards the details described, provided the features stated in any of the following claims or the equivalent of such be employed.

We therefore particularly point out and distinctly claim as our invention:

1. A smelting furnace comprising a receptacle having a discharge opening thru its side wall, said opening in transverse cross section having a contour approximating that of an hour glass.

2. A smelting furnace comprising a receptacle having a discharge opening through its side wall of contour approximating that of a vertically disposed hour glass.

3. A smelting fiu'nace comprising a receptacle having a discharge opening thru its side wall of contour approximating that of a vertically disposed hour glass, the bottom of such opening being substantially flush with the bottom inside wall of said receptacle.

4. A smelting furnace comprising a receptacle having a discharge opening through its side wall formed with side walls converging toward one another from the interior to the exterior of said receptacle, said opening in transverse cross section having a contour approximating that of an hour glass.

5. In a smelting furnace, the combination of a receptacle having an opening through its side wall and a discharge spout secured in such opening, said discharge spout being formed with a discharge opening of contour approximating that of a vertically disposed hour glass.

6. In a smelting furnace, the combination of a receptacle having an opening through its side wall and a discharge spout secured in such opening, said discharge spout being formed with a discharge opening of contour approximating that of a vertically disposed hour glass, and with a 5 downwardly inclined trough projecting exteriorly REFERENCES CITE!) of said receptacle. I

7. In a smelting furnace, the combination of a 5 2; g i ifi are of recold m the receptacle having an opening through its side Wall and a discharge spout secured in such opening, said discharge spout being formed with a UNITED STATES PATENTS discharge opening of contour approximating that Number Name Date of a vertically disposed hour glass, the side walls 535375 Moore June 29, 1897 of such discharge opening being convergent to- 971,445 Harteflstem Sept 1910 Ward one another from the interior to the ex- 10 1,027,821 Cunnmgham H May 28) 1912 terior of said receptacle. 1,241,790 Wadsworth 0 1917 8. A discharge spout for smelting furnaces comprising a body having an opening therethrough, said opening in transverse cross section having a contour approximating that of an hour 15 glass.

FRANK J. ZVANUT. CLIFFORD C. KREAGER. CHARLES A. THOMAS, JR. 

